On the outskirts of Shrek Academy, the sea of clouds churned.
Standing at the edge of this massive island suspended thousands of meters in the air, the fierce wind howled, whipping at everyone's clothes.
Looking down, the vast and boundless Douluo Continent was partially obscured by thick layers of clouds, creating a powerful visual impact.
At this moment, the entire first-year student body had gathered here in an orderly fashion.
Uncontrollable excitement and anticipation flickered in everyone's eyes, and their gazes collectively fell upon Teacher Shen Yi, who stood at the very front of the group.
"Teacher Shen!"
Xie Xie, possessing a restless nature, raised his hand and spoke up impatiently.
"For our training trip to the Lower Realm, is everyone going to fly down directly by piloting mechas?"
Hearing Xie Xie's question, a wave of somewhat awkward, low laughter immediately rippled through the group.
Among the current first-year freshmen, almost everyone was already equipped with a Purple-rank Mecha.
But!
Owning a mecha was one thing; being able to pilot it skillfully was another matter entirely.
If Teacher Shen Yi really let this group of amateurs pilot Purple-rank Mechas to fly down directly from thousands of meters in the air, the outcome for most would be simple: free-fall, ending with them smashing deep craters into the ground of the Douluo Continent.
After all, in the curriculum of these past eight months, they had focused the vast majority of their energy on cultivating their faction's secret techniques and increasing their Spirit Power.
The actual mecha practical operation classes they had attended at the academy totaled only two or three at most.
And with only those few classes, they had barely mastered the most basic walking and jumping movements for a mecha.
As for high-altitude flight, although the theory had been taught in class, this group simply hadn't had the chance to master it thoroughly yet.
Hearing Xie Xie's whimsical question, Teacher Shen Yi couldn't help but smile and shake her head.
"Naturally, that won't be necessary."
Teacher Shen Yi looked at everyone and spoke.
"While Purple-rank Mechas possess short-distance flight capabilities, having novices like you fly down smoothly from thousands of meters up is still too difficult. The academy wants you to gain experience, not to jump off a cliff."
Hearing that they wouldn't have to pilot mechas to jump down, many students who were feeling uncertain breathed a long sigh of relief.
Standing at the front of the crowd, Huo Yuhao's mind flashed with a sudden realization after hearing Teacher Shen Yi's words, and a guess immediately formed in his heart.
Since it wasn't mechas, it would most likely be riding in a soul guidance car!
Huo Yuhao remembered clearly that when he, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Lizhi were first brought to this floating island, they had ridden in that specialized high-altitude soul guidance car capable of shuttling through the clouds.
Teacher Shen Yi's next words immediately proved that Huo Yuhao's intuition was correct.
At that moment, a tall, slender figure dressed in white with an aura as cold as frost walked out from behind Teacher Shen Yi without warning.
It was Wu Changkong.
Wu Changkong's expression was icy, and he didn't waste a single word.
He walked to the open space, and the light from the Storage Soul Tool on his wrist flashed repeatedly.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Accompanied by several soft metallic thuds, several silver-white soul guidance cars with extremely streamlined shapes and a futuristic, sci-fi aesthetic appeared neatly before everyone.
The bodies of these soul guidance cars were much larger than ordinary vehicles outside, and both sides of the chassis were equipped with thruster arrays for high-altitude flight.
Huo Yuhao scanned them and immediately saw that these soul guidance cars were all standard six-seater configurations.
And their current first-year class had a total of thirty-five people!
Six cars would fit everyone perfectly.
Teacher Shen Yi pointed to the soul guidance cars behind her and explained to the group.
"Next, you will divide yourselves into groups of six, with one group of five, and take these soul guidance cars to the ground. Once you arrive at the Douluo Continent, for this four-month training period, you can choose to operate alone or form your own teams for group activities."
"The academy will not interfere with your training route, but there is one thing you must understand."
Teacher Shen Yi's expression became serious. She raised her wrist and pointed to the identity bracelet on her hand, saying to everyone.
"Now, the identity bracelet Systems for all of you have been updated with the training function."
"Over the next four months, the bracelets will record your movements, combat performance, task completion, and survival skills on the Douluo Continent throughout the entire process. Furthermore, the System will provide real-time ratings based on your comprehensive performance during this training period!"
"This rating will directly determine the Contribution Points reward you receive upon returning to the academy after the training ends, as well as your final grade for the semester. As for the assessment content, it will depend on your own experiences; the identity bracelets will update accordingly. Do you all understand?"
Everyone's expression turned solemn as they answered in unison, indicating their understanding.
After explaining the rules of the training, everyone's attention shifted back to the transportation in front of them, and they all gathered around the soul guidance cars with curious eyes, sizing them up.
Since entering this aerial Shrek Academy, they had done nothing but bury themselves in bitter cultivation and hadn't touched any form of transportation.
Combined with the fact that they hadn't seen this kind of high-altitude flying soul guidance car in a long time, it naturally felt quite novel.
At this point, someone in the crowd raised their hand and asked.
"Teacher Shen, these cars look quite high-end, but what if none of us know how to drive this kind of high-altitude soul guidance car?"
Teacher Shen Yi smiled and waved her hand, explaining.
"It doesn't matter if you can't drive. These soul guidance cars are all equipped with the latest intelligent cores and have extremely sophisticated autonomous driving functions."
"Once you're inside, you only need to set the ground coordinates for your desired landing spot on the central control console, and it will automatically plan the route and drive you smoothly to the ground."
"However, remember one thing: once you are down and have landed safely, remember to immediately store the soul guidance car in your Storage Soul Tool for safekeeping. These are academy property; if they are lost by the end of the training, Contribution Points will be deducted."
Everyone nodded in succession, indicating their understanding.
"Alright, get into your groups and board the cars! I wish you a smooth training session!"
Teacher Shen Yi gave the final command.
As Teacher Shen Yi's voice fell, the crowd immediately sprang into action, excitedly beginning to look for their teammates.
Tang Wulin, Huo Yuhao, Xie Xie, Wei Xiaofeng, and Ling Luochen naturally formed a group.
As the car doors slowly closed, the high-tech control panel inside instantly lit up.
"This car is so cool!"
Xie Xie, sitting by the window, excitedly touched the leather seat and turned to look at Tang Wulin in the driver's seat, asking.
"Boss, where should we set the destination?"
Tang Wulin glanced at the virtual holographic map on the console and pondered for a moment.
"Somewhere a bit further away. Let's not land directly on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. We can set it to a wilderness area a few hundred kilometers from the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. There are Spirit Beasts there, as well as some small towns; it's perfect as the first stop of our training."
After hearing this, no one had any objections and expressed their agreement.
Tang Wulin reached out and quickly entered the regional coordinates on the holographic map, then decisively pressed the confirmation button for autonomous driving.
Vroom—!
The thrusters at the bottom of the soul guidance car instantly sprayed pale blue tail-flames, the entire car vibrated slightly, and then it rose smoothly into the air.
Immediately after, the front of the car tilted sharply downward, and like a silver falcon, it dived into the thick sea of clouds, flying toward the Douluo Continent below!
Outside the window, white mist streaked backward like flowing light.
The people inside the car became increasingly excited.
Two thousand meters... one thousand meters... five hundred meters!
Under the control of the autonomous driving System, the soul guidance car's speed began to gradually decrease, descending smoothly toward the somewhat desolate forest area below.
However, just as the soul guidance car was only a few dozen meters from the ground!
A sudden change occurred!
On the originally deserted wilderness landing spot, a figure shrouded in a black robe appeared out of nowhere, standing there silently like ghost!
The figure looked up slightly. Although the face was obscured, a thick, nauseating smell of blood and an extremely cold, evil aura were released without restraint. Dark red blood stained the figure's hands as their gaze locked onto them.
Then... a dark red energy ball appeared in their hand and was launched toward the soul guidance car the group was riding in!
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.